Overture [3:19]
Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin’ [2:32]
The Surrey With The Fringe On top [3:07]
Kansas City [2:45] I Cain’t Say No [2:59] Many A New Day {3:05] It’s A Scandal [3:15] People Will Say We’re In Love [3:11]
Pore Jud Is Daid [2:49] Lonely Room [2:36] Out Of My Dreams [2:47] The Farmer And The Cowman [5:17] All Er Nuthin’ [3:09] Oklahoma [2:30] Finale: Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin’ –
People Will Say We’re In Love [3:10]
Original Oklahoma Orchestra and Chorus
Jay Blackton, conductor
Curly – Alfred Drake
Laurey Williams – Joan Roberts
Will Parker – Lee Dixon
Ado Annie – Celeste Holm
Jud Fry – Howard da Silva
Ali Hakim – Joseph Buloff
Aunt Eller – Bette Garde
Andrew Carnes – Ralph RiggsRecorded 20 and
25 October, 1943 in New York, NY
Bonus Recordings 1944 Oklahoma: Symphonic Suite [11:26]
Arranged by Robert Russell Bennett
Alfred Wallenstein and the Philharmonic Orchestra
of Los Angeles
Recorded 4 August, 1944 in Los Angeles, CA
Oklahoma! [2:55] The Surrey With The Fringe On Top
[3:26]
James Melton with Al Goodman’s Orchestra
Recorded 22 December, 1944 in New York, NY
People Will Say We’re In Love
[3:23]
James Melton and Eleanor Steber with Al Goodman’s
Orchestra
Recorded 22 December, 1944 in New York, NY
Out Of My Dreams [3:32]
Eleanor Steber with All Goodman’s Orchestra
Recorded 22 December, 1944 in New York, NY
Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin’
[3:06]
John Carter Thomas with Victor Young’s Orchestra
and The Ken Darby Chorus
Recorded 13 December, 1944 in Hollywood, CA
Kansas City [2:56]
John Carter Thomas with chorus and orchestra
conducted by Victor Young
Recorded 13 December, 1944 in Hollywood, CA.
ADD

The debut of Oklahoma! in
1943 has to be one of the defining moments
in the history of musical theater. It was
Rogers and Hammerstein’s first musical together,
and today is considered to be among the best
loved and influential of all musicals. Certainly
it has to be considered among the most popular.
During its initial run, it sold out every
performance after the opening night for five
consecutive years. The title song has even
become the official song of the state of Oklahoma.
Thus it is certainly interesting to hear the
original voices of Curly, Laurey, Will, Jud,
and Ado Annie.

With the exception of "I
Cain’t Say No" the voices are pure, fun,
and clear. Joan Roberts’ performances are
effortless and wonderful. Alfred Drake recorded
as good a Curly as any since him. Throughout
most of these original cast recordings it
is evident just what audiences found in this
musical. It is charismatic and the performers
truly sound as if they’re having a good time
performing the songs. Even when the non-singers
perform, they mostly provide enjoyable and
amusing renditions. There is unfortunately
one exception here on the part of Celeste
Holm. It must be noted the performer certainly
was affecting an accent and character voice
for the part of Ado Annie. However the performance
definitely lacks the polish or charisma of
the others. The vocals are out of tune and
have a nasal quality that simply grates. Although
she’s the girl who can’t say "no",
it makes me wish that Ms. Holm had learned
to use the word when asked for deliberately
bad singing. It may be that many will find
the imperfection endearing. However, as the
rest of the performances are actually very
good, and she does perform notably better
on All or Nothin’, this particular
song simply seems out of place.

The other thing which may
stand out to true fans of the musical is that
Lonely Room was originally performed
by Howard daSilva (Jud), but the recording
was made by Alfred Drake (Curly). This was
due to the way that the recordings were originally
released. Lonely Room was released
with the other "comedy" songs, and
it was felt that Drake’s voice would be a
welcome change from the performances by the
untrained singers. He does to a very fine
job with the song, showing that the decision
was a good one.

Due to the amazing popularity
of the original recordings, Decca went back
to these songs a year later with a cast from
the Metropolitan Opera and a symphonic suite
performed by the Philharmonic Orchestra of
Los Angeles. It is interesting to compare
the performances of John Charles Thomas, James
Melton and Eleanor Steber with those of Lee
Dixon, Alfred Drake and Joan Roberts. Thomas
is the better singer as Will Parker, and his
versions of Oh What A Beautiful Mornin’
and Kansas City are very nice additions
here. Also it should be noted that Steber
would spend the decade after this recording
as the featured soprano for the Met, and Melton
was an admitted star before these recordings
were made. Thus one expects, and receives,
quite a solid set of performances.

Additionally, the recordings
have aged incredibly well. There is some fidelity
loss due to the ageing of the original wartime
materials used for the pressings. However
the transfer is remarkably noise-free. There
is a fairly detailed description in the liner
notes explaining how the originals were made
and what was done to make this release. However
it is certainly due to the quality of the
transfer how well the sound engineers know
their craft.

The rest of the liner notes
are interesting, but nothing special. They
describe just how unlikely Oklahoma!
was, and how it was expected to flop. They
also provide a bit of information into the
editing that was made, due to the recordings
being made for release on 78s. Essentially,
they complete a very strong package adequately
enough to not distract in any way.

While it would be hard to
recommend vintage recordings to everyone,
this one should have a broader audience than
most. This CD is definitely for anyone that
already loves Oklahoma!. It is a testament
to the original cast. One can understand how
this simple musical was able to do so well
when one hears exactly how talented the original
performers were. As a piece of music history
it is also quite interesting. To top the whole
thing off, the songs are so familiar and well
performed that there are a large number of
people that will simply enjoy hearing them
the same way that the original audience of
60+ years ago would. It’s a good thing that
Naxos has re-pressed these recordings. Anything
else would have been a scandal, or an outrage.
Any farmer would tell you it’s true. Perhaps
what is most evident here is that in the hands
of such a solid cast, the least you could
say was that Oklahoma! was OK.